Reasons Why Not: On the Positive Grounds of Negative Truths [Paperback]

Many philosophers have shown sympathy to the thought that reality is fundamentally positive. Julio De Rizzo formulates this idea precisely by means of the notion of grounding, and examines how the resulting thesis fares with respect to three much discussed classes of negative truths, namely that of negative predications, that of negative causal reports, and that of negative existential truths. By shedding light on the issues advocates of the thesis have to deal with, this work shows the positivist account to be a tenable position in metaphysics.

The formulation of the positivist thesis in ground-theoretic terms.- A definition of positivity and negativity.- The positive grounds of negative predications.- The positive basis of causally effective omissions.- The positive grounds of negative existential truths.Julio De Rizzo holds a PhD in theoretical philosophy from the University of Hamburg, Germany and currently teaches at the Pontifical Catholic University of Campinas, Brazil. He studied philosophy at the Pontifical Catholic University of S?o Paulo and the University of S?o Paulo, Brazil. His research interests focus on analytic metaphysics and the philosophy of logic.Many philosophers have shown sympathy to the thought that reality is fundamentally positive. Julio De Rizzo formulates this idea precisely by means of the notion of grounding, and examines how the resulting thesis fares with respect to three much discussed classes of negative truths, namely that of negative predications, that of negative causal reports, and that of negative existential truths. By shedding light on the issues advocates of the thesis have to deal with, this work shows the positivist account to be a tenable position in metaphysics.